FO: Stripey skirt, Simplicity 5564

AKA my 'homage' to Melizza's stripey Ginger.
 
Well, I started this skirt at the beginning of May, with high hopes that I would get it finished before the end of May, and be able to wear it for MMM12.  However, lack of interfacing, getting distracted by a Lydia top and finishing my Burda trousers and life in general, prevented this from happening.

As mentioned in my previous post,  I used a now out of print pattern (Simplicity 5564),

with the addition of pockets (from Simplicity 2451) a bit of fiddling and some ricrac(!).


I was debating whether to line it or not - I decided against it in the end, although if I want to extend its seasonal wear I'll have to make a slip.  I wore it for the first time on Saturday, with flesh colour fishnets (which I hope look better than they sound!) and even with these, my skirt was creeping up my legs.

So on to the photos:

An approximation of how I wore it on Saturday:

How I wore it the other day, shopping and school sports day:


Another combination:


Some details, the pockets and waistband:




the invisible zip:


matching stripes:




I love this skirt! I made it on a whim, and it is everything I wanted it to be, practical, comfortable (apart from the hook 'n' eye that needs to be reattached somehow) and stripey. Plus it will go with a number of my RTW tops.  Thanks for for the inspriation Melizza!

FO's: Burda Trousers #105 11/2011 & Burdastyle Lydia top

I have 2 finshed items to show you.  Well, nearly finished... in that the trousers need a hook & eye, and the top may need a complete overhaul, but other than that....

Firstly the trousers.  I started these in the spring term of my sewing class, had major size issues, welt pockets, and invisible zips.  The fabric was super tricky to work with and frayed like crazy.  I think I may have cut down the size too much, certainly in the waist, and because it frayed sooooo much I thinks the legs might be a bit too slim. Also, one leg seems shorter despite my instructor very carefully doing the length for me.

front

side

back

  And now with an attempt at 'styling' them:

These last 2 pictures are the best views I could get. If I could spend all day standing holding on the the door knob, gazing whistfully of the window, I'm sure the trousers would look lovely!

Secondly, the Lydia top from Burdastyle.  I cut this according to my size on the chart, but, (and this I something need to remember for Burda) it is much too big.  It is a sloppy top, as opposed to a tight (form fitting top?), which is not what I was after.  The fabric was £1 a metre from my sewing teacher.  She has been selling off a collegue's stash after the collegue died and raised nearly £1000 for a local hospice.  I don't know the fibre content, but is very stretchy and I didn't really take this into account when I made the top.  I also forgot other sewists comments that it runs big, so should have made it a couple of sizes smaller.  Here it is as it fits at the moment.  I think it is ok to go under something (I wore it under a bright red deliberately oversized cowl sweater the other day) but when I got hot and took the sweater off, I suddenly felt enormous. It will be altered some how in the not too distant future - whether it will be hack-job or a careful reconstruction, I don't know yet!

front view showing strange folds of fabric over my bust

Possible sway back alteration required?

showing width of top

Pulling the top in for a better fit

 
Coming up, two nearly finished projects, both waiting for hems!

MMM12 week 3 and rest of May round up

Here is the rest of my MMM12.  I kept up with wearing my 3 days of MMM a week, but got worse throughout the month at taking photo's.  These are the ones that I managed to take:

Sunday 13th May:

 

Middlest getting into the swing of MMM by fashioning a skirt from rhubarb leaves and string!

Monday 14th May

Me-Made blouse/top thing,
H&M longsleeved T
Jeans
This top was made pre-blog, from a dress that I loved, but didn't wear any more.  I used a pattern Simplicity 5195, which I think is OOP. I made view D, the green one with ties at the shoulder.


Again far to cold to wear on it's own, hence the long sleeved top underneath. I'm not sure I'm a fan of this layered type of look on me, but I am using this month to try slightly different things on the odd occasion!

Wednesday 16th May

Me-Made Portfolio Dress
MerinoMink Cardi
Leopard print tights
I am getting a lot of wear out of my Portfolio dress this May.  I think I am going to have to either line the front of the dress or make a mini slip as it walks up my legs whatever I wear it with, which was driving me mad....Worn to my sewing class and lunch with Sister.

Saturday 19th May

Me-Made Portfolio - again
Leopard tights again
Blue curly collar cardi
worn to a friends school fete, where unbelievably, we saw the sun for quite a lot of the afternoon - it was certainly warm enough to remove my cardi whilst outdoors!

Tuesday 22nd May

 Me-Made Sorbetto
Johnny Q jeans

Saturday 26th May

Me-Made Newlook 6895
Kew denim skirt

Worn to Ickworth House for Husband's birthday day out.  This is the first outing this top has had and I love it! It just needs something to hold the ol' bra straps  out of sight - the neckline is very wide.

Sunday 27th May


Me-Made geometric refashion
Denim skirt originally from Monsoon,

The skirt was bought from local charity shop years ago. It has been my favourite summer skirt for some years and it going to need replacing soon... Worn pottering about the garden, weeding and drinking Pimms!

Monday 28th May

Same outfit as yesterday, toasting Husband's birthday!Slightly different weather...

Wednesday 30th May

No photographic evidence of this one, but I was wearing my Turquoise Top:

The End!

MMM12 week 2 round up

I'm a little bit behind in Me-Made-May, so here we have Week 2 (week 3 hopefully up tomorrow!):

Monday 7th May

Top: Me- made Autumn Tunic
Jeans: Ancient New Look Hula jeans, now relegated to gardening wear
Cardi: as seen last week
Dry enough to garden, but not warm. Tunic just about visible, assessing angles for cold frame that Husband 'knocked up' over the weekend:


Wednesday 9th May

Top: Me-made cowl top
Skirt: Me-made Pebble skirt
Cardi: MerinoMink
Another miserable, grey, rainy day. Worn to my sewing class and to meet my sister for lunch. Photo taken at Peterhouse, Cambridge. I have seen lots of people wearing ankle boots with skirts recently, so I thought I'd give it a try, however I was not comfortable, mentally or physically. The boots were very uncomfortable - they are very old and will be going in the bin very soon!

Thursday10th May

Dress: Denim Portfolio dress
Warmish, when not raining. Enjoying a coffee with Husband & Eldest, whilst Middlest & Youngest were at Gymnastics.

This weather is seriously hampering my MMM choices. I dislike being cold, so the summer tops I have waiting are not going to put to use for while, even with cardi's.

Grinding to a halt

I have run out of interfacing.

I need interfacing for my WIP stripey skirt.

Middlest needs interfacing for her skirt.

We are stuck.

My trousers are soo nearly finished, and I don't need interfacing for those.  The dress I made in my sewing lessons before Christmas just need a lapped zip and the hem finishing.  Am I finishing them? I seem to be thinking of what to start next!

I had a little spending spree the other week and bought three patterns that are very popular in blog land, The Colette Jasmine, and the Sewaholic Renfrew and Minoru.  I shall make the Jasmine from stash, and problaby the Renfrew too. The Minoru is a bit tricky - I have some wool blend I could use in preparation for Autumn, but I have requested a couple of samples from Croft Mill of waterproof fabrics. We shall see!

Work in progress: stripey skirt

This skirt was completely not on my my mental sewing list, but I saw the material in one of my local charity shops, left it because I have enough that I haven't used yet, then went back the next day and bought it! And I will openly say that this is inspired/ is a copy of the striped Ginger made by Melissa from Pincushion Treats.

I have been seeing lots of pretty Gingers popping up around the blog world, but am not super keen on the high waist on me.  Many of my skirts that I have been wearing for a number of years, sit a bit lower, and whilst I don't like them sitting on my hips any more, I think somewhere in-between is more me.

I have a pattern that I really like, Simplicity 5564, which now seems to be out of print.

I last used this about 10 years ago, to make the skirt shown in my MMM12 week 1 round up. I call that skirt my Pebble skirt - I have a feeling that was the name of the design for the fabric, and I used view A.  On my new skirt, I wanted to try the chevron effect that Melissa has in her skirt, so I had a good look at the pattern.  It is basically 2 pattern pieces - skirt portion, same used for front and back and a yoked/curved  waistband.  I decided that I would also like pockets. So, time to think.

I got out my trusty tracing paper and traced off the skirt piece twice.  It was a cut on fold piece, so I just added a 1.5cm seam allowance.  I then laid out the material, folded it to find the bias, had a bit of a play, then googled stripes on bias and got useful info from Coletterie and particularly helpful series of posts from Sunni at A Fashionable Stitch.  I marked on the pattern pieces the stripes that I was trying to match, which really helped lining up the matching pieces. I will be basting everything together to check for fit, and will have a play regarding the pockets, which I will be 'making up as I go along'.

checking the stripes

Also on my sewing table are, still, my Burda trousers.  I finally ordered an invisible zipper foot for my machine and put it to use last week. I have installed all the zips in my trousers, but am not entirely sure why the waist zip is invisible, when the opening is hidden by a flap - any way.... These are almost a pair of trousers now, and I hope to have them finished possibley by the end of the week.  

Middlest Daughter has expressed more interest in sewing, and after her success with her bag last year, has chosen a skirt pattern and some material from my stash. I just need to get a zip to match the fabric and she is ready to go. 

MMM12 week one round up

Still not got quite enough Me-made clothing to see me through the month, hence the 3 day a week, part of my pledge.

Here goes - Day 1, 1st May

Top: Me- made, original post here
Jeans: New Levi's demi-curve slim leg (I have been a 'bootcut' girl for years, so I am still getting used to this)
Boots: Ancient, possibley M&S
Worn with a combination, throughout the day, of long sleeved curly collared cardi (as seen in post about the top), raincoat & gloves, and wellie-boots. Temp approx 10C in the morning, rising to about 16C at afternoon school run time and mostly WET. (Photo courtesy of Youngest Daughter, who struggled to press the button without moving the camera!)

Day 2, 3rd May

Top: navy blue wool jumper, Boden seconds, some years a go
Cardi: MerinoMink, bought in New Zealand
Skirt: Me-made, pre-blog, around 2000.  This is made from John Lewis furnishing fabric that was around for years, although now (reasonably recently) discontinued. I didn't wear this for years, as I found it really hard to find tops that went with it.
Topped with raincoat for most of the day. I didn't check the temp, but it was not warm (note I am wearing 2 jumpers/sweaters - and it is May).

Day 3, 5th May

Top: Me-Made, original post here
Trousers: Ancient, Boden
Cardi: Kew. This cardi is going to repurposed somehow in the not too distant future. It is one of my favs and has worn so much, the elbows are bare. It has an interesting collar, which I love.
Again, it was cold and wet for some of the day, but I did get some gardening done between the showers, so jeans were swapped in for the trousers. (Same combo worn on Sunday, for more gardening).

So, gentle start to MM12.  There are signs that it might be warming up, so some of the summer stuff might make it out of the drawer under my bed soon!

I have been checking out the Facebook page, and the Flickr group, it's very interesting to see how people put their outfits together. I had tried to join the flickr group, but am having tech issues, so will have to enlist help at some point.